"And because I love digging through the Google API leak for the buried gems, here is what Google has to say about service areas: This proto represents the geographic area served by an establishment. WARNING: This proto is not meant to be used directly."
"This is backend storage for display and internal geo-consistency, not an input to the ranking model."
"If service areas were part of ranking logic, they wouldn't warn engineers not to use them directly,"
The API proto for service areas represents the geographic area served by an establishment and carries a warning that it is not meant to be used directly. The service area data appears intended for backend storage, display, and internal geographic consistency rather than as a signal fed into the Search ranking model. The explicit warning against direct use implies that service areas are not part of the ranking logic. The designation of these fields as non-inputs leaves room for future change, so the status of ranking factors can evolve over time.
Read at Search Engine Roundtable
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